Charlotte Dean Mysteries Collection

Chapter 13

Charlotte went to bed happy. The living room was bright and cheerful with its tinsel, and she’d hung the remaining ornaments from the ceiling with string. It might not be much, but now she had a little touch of festive season in her heart. She read a new thriller for an hour, then slid under the sheets, knowing tomorrow was going to take every minute of concentration.

She woke at three minutes after midnight, her eyes flying open to see the time on the digital clock beside her bed. Why? It wasn’t a bad dream, nor a storm, and she couldn’t remember hearing breaking glass.

Go back to sleep.

Go back to sleep.She closed her eyes. From a distance came an odd sound. She’d heard something earlier exactly like it. A chainsaw. Eyes open again, she climbed out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown on the way to the balcony.

The sound stopped. There was no movement along the road. Esther’s shop looked fine. The Christmas tree rustled behind her and she glanced at it. Just a breeze. If it was a bit windy, perhaps a tree had come down somewhere and it was being cut up to move.

The buzz began again. It came from near the roundabout and Charlotte leaned as far over the railing as she dared. There was a lot of light there. But wasn’t that normal for an intersection? And the tree in the centre had spotlights pointed on it from memory. The chainsaw stopped.

Laughter. Male laughter and raised voices. Charlotte’s instincts went on high alert. She distinctly heard, “Pull, Darro.” Darro?

And then a long, loud c***k.

Charlotte sprinted to the bedroom. In less than a minute she was dressed and running down the stairs with her keys and phone. She sped along her side of the road, close to the shop fronts to avoid being seen. But she knew something bad had happened at the roundabout. And she wasn’t about to phone Sid.

She peered around the last shop on the corner. A ute and long trailer sat partway on the roundabout. Two young men dragged pieces of the giant Christmas tree onto it. Charlotte unlocked her phone and searched for the camera. Her hands shook and it took several tries to open it.

“Hurry up, Darro.”

Whatever was going on, she needed to get evidence, so she snapped away as much as she could. The trailer had no plates and the men never turned her way, so she could only hope she’d got enough to identify them. The poor tree was in pieces, and one by one, the men threw them into the trailer. What wouldn’t fit went into the back of the ute.

The same ute from the other night.

From behind her, Charlotte heard a car approach and flattened herself in the doorway of the shop. Ahead, the ute’s engine roared and by the time the car passed her, the thieves were gone. All that remained were ornaments and a few broken branches.

This time, her phone call to the police was anonymous. Sure, they’d be able to find her if they wanted, but she had no intention of being Sid’s prime suspect. Every instinct told Charlotte to get back to her house and mind her own business.

Like you’re going to start doing that now.

Like you’re going to start doing that now.She found a narrow gap between two shops and squeezed in. The roundabout was a mess with broken ornaments, discarded branches, and the ground dug up by the trailer and ute. This angle was better for photographs and Charlotte zoomed in to get more detail.

Sid arrived in the same singlet and pants from the other night. He parked where the ute was. So much for identifying the other vehicle from tyre tread. He kicked at a branch and squashed an intact ornament. Charlotte tried to switch to video mode and the phone dinged. She drew further into the gap as Sid spun around.

“Who’s there? Show yourself.”

Charlotte inched backwards, turning to her side to slide along the wall as footsteps approached. Cobwebs caught her hair and a squeal rose in her throat, but she forced it down for fear of discovery. Sid might shoot her if he found her. Who would ever look down this constricted space for a body?

“Is someone there?” A flashlight lit the entrance, then was directed toward Charlotte.

She kept moving until the gap suddenly opened to an alley and she threw herself around a corner. The light flashed where she’d just been, and Charlotte shoved her phone into a pocket and leaned against the brick wall drawing in short breaths. There was no way Sid would fit through the gap, but she needed to find a way out of wherever she was. He already thought she was guilty of something.

When there was no more light coming through the gap, she turned the flashlight on her phone on. The alley ran behind shops on one side and was wide enough for one car to drive along at a time. Cobblestones covered the ground and there were a few bins scattered ahead. Charlotte hurried in the direction of the bookshop. A few of the shops had back doors leading to the alley. The other side was fenced and from glimpses between palings, it looked like back yards of houses.

She neared the end of the row of shops. Ahead was the alley that opened opposite the bookshop. Phone in her pocket she crept along the wall to the corner. When she peered around, there was no sign of movement. The bookshop was in darkness, apart from the lights around the tree in the window.

Step by step, she tiptoed toward the street, stopping at every tiny sound. From here, the very top of her little Christmas tree was just in sight above the balcony. It needed a star.

Focus.

Focus.At the corner, Charlotte stared in the direction of the roundabout. Sid’s car was still there. But where was he? He’d have to leave sooner or later, or at least call for assistance. A shadow passed in front of the bookshop. Sid was there. He’d been in the darkness until crossing in front of the tree. Now she knew where he was, Charlotte watched him until he’d walked all the way back to his car.

The minute he got into it, she sprinted over the road. In seconds she was around the back and flying up the stairs. Door locked behind her, Charlotte closed her eyes and exhaled. Too close. Far too close.

After showering to get cobwebs from her hair, and grime from her arms and legs, Charlotte was exhausted. She padded barefoot to the sliding glass door, towelling her hair dry. She’d left the door open, so began to pull it across.

She wrinkled her nose and stepped onto the balcony. Someone was smoking nearby.

The smell of smoke was strong. Charlotte stood at the edge of the balcony, scanning below. At the corner of the alley, Sid stared up at her, a cigarette between his fingers. When their eyes met, he sneered at Charlotte, then tossed the butt onto the ground and walked away.